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Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
London & South Western Railway : Southern Railway : British Railways
Lymington - Yarmouth Ferry Service
The L&SWR railway services reached Lymington in 1858
and was extended to the current pier station in 1860. Connections to
the Isle of Wight were operated but private ship owners
Vessels taken over from the private owner the Solent Steam Packet Company in 1884 :
Solent (1884-1901, originally built in 1863) : Length 85.4 ft : 56 GRT : by G & J Inman of Lymington
Mayflower (1884-1905, originally built in 1866) : Length 98.3 ft : 69 GRT : by Marshall Bros, Willington Quay, North Tyneside
New build
Lymington
(1893) : Length 120.2 ft : 130 GRT : by Day, Summers & Co,
Southampton. Engines Compound diagonal 24 and 40 in x 36 in
Solent
(1901) : Not accepted by the company and sold on the stocks to the
Metropolitan Aysylums Board as an ambulance carrier on the Thames
Solent
(1902) : Length 135.5 ft : 161 GRT : by Mordey, Carney & Co,
Southampton. Engines Compound diagonal 17 and 32 in x 42 in
After railway amalgamation in 1923, the operation became part of the Southern Railway and the remaining paddlers were transferred to the new company
The Southern Railway,
on its establishment in 1923 after the grouping of regional railway
companies into major conglomerates, obtained two ferry crossings to
the Isle of Wight. Whilst the Portsmouth-Ryde crossing was primarily
a passenger-only service with large paddler steamers employed to
cross Spithead, the "quieter" crossing from Lymington in rural Dorset
had been characterised by cargo and especially vehicular traffic.
Towed cargo barges were an early feature of this crossing, making
tugs equally prominent as passenger vessels, and the crossing was an
early convert to drive-through motor ferries, including the
pioneering British ferry MV Lymington, driven by Voith-Schneider
propellor units introduced in 1938.
The railway company reverted to paddle propulsion, albeit backed by a
diesel-electric unit, when the drive-through ferry DEPV Farringford
was launched in 1947. The passenger paddler PS Freshwater was out of
the fleet by 1960. Farringford's last run was on November 8th, 1973
after which she was transferred for further service on the Hull-New
Holland ferry.
The service continues with drive-through motor vessels
Paddle steamer taken over after railway amalgamations of 1923
Lymington (1893-1929) Sold for use as a houseboat and later became a Sea Cadets training ship
Solent (1902-1948) Bought from Pounds scrapyard and opened as Bert's Cafe along the A27
New build by Southern Railway
Freshwater (1927-1959)
Farringford (1947-1974) Diesel-electric Paddle Vessel
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Historical Database